Animal trap



C. E. HUNT, 'ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I5, 1920.

1,435,472. Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

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C. E. HUNT. v

ANIMAL TRA'P.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15, 1920.

Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- A further object o-f'the invention resides-- J Patented'Nov. 14, 1922;

cnnnnns IHUNT; or nannn'rrn naem a;

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t a i *a u ationnled To aZZw/wmitmay c0mm-- l 'i Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. H NT, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Raquette Lake, in the countybf Hamilton.

and State of New York, have invented certain' new and'useful Improvements in Ani mal' Traps; and I do hereby declare the following'to' be afull, clear, and exact description of the inventiong'such as willenable others skilledfin; th'e art to whichflit may be employed fortrapping large and small animals by arranging thebase plate I I ject the provision of a trap of the-character" set forth which will be composed of. the

over awhidden' pocket or =hole overuwhich projects. the releasing pan as the animal 1 presses .upon the latter soas to release the spring jaws and cause the latter to clamp the leg'ofthe animalfat tapoint above the joint thereofiso as to securely hold the vicin .theprovision of a trap of the character stated in .WlllCll 'the gripping gjaws will nor mally rest upon" the circular supporting base ring "or ibase 2 plate but may be yreadily forced'outwardly thereover' by the sprinw- I'actuatin'g member when the pan is presse downwardly and; released from the latch member which extends over one of the. spring jaws when the 1 trap. is set to -p're vent .the awsfr'om'being moved upwardly by theuspring actuating m'emberQ The invention has for a:still: further ob -v minimum number of parts-ofgsimple construction and arrangement and which may be readily set and-may also be readily-res moved from the victim*=with'out injury to the latter. T= f With the foregoingand other objects in .view as will appearas the description pro ceeds, ithe invention consists in the-novel construction,-;combinati'on and arrangement of coop a i g elements-as hereinafterinore application,

1 erated positions by dotted lines-#- 1 1920, ser al No. 8am;

the accompanying drawings."

' In the drawings formi Figure '1 is a plan ready for a victim.

View" of the 'pr eiferred form ofthe-in'vention withthe trap; set i Figure 2 "is a: transverse vertical section i on the plane of line 2+2 of-fFigure 1, the operative parts being indicated in their .jopx-p Figure- 3 is. a viewisimilar to Figure-2 and at right angles thereto, Ysaid.viewbeing arrows. 1 t [Figure 4 1s;

looking in the direction'indicatedyby "the" a plan'view ing a slightly. modified jform thereof the trap being: shown inI-fset condition,

J Figure-5 is a vertical transverseksectional view throu' 4 Figurefi is a detail perspective ofwthe' arcjuate spring, removed;v l a Figure 7 "isia detailgview of -one;of ;,the

gh th'e form ofw-trapTshoWnin Figure 4: and on; an enlarged scale; 1:

clamping jaws employed; in the two forms of the invention." i

' "Figure Bis a detail v-iew 'of o'ne link ofthe PIBfGI'lGCl'LfOlHL-cOf' ehain employed in .con- 'ne ction with'wthe trap.-

f, I Referring more in detail to'the drawings,

in w'vhi'ch similar i're'ferenc'e characters desig 'nate icorrespo'nding parts throughout the SQV? Y eralfl-views, 1 "indicates the. flat circular-base or body member which-Yhas I oppositely di-v rect'ed Jperforatedears' 2- extended in pairs from oppositesidesof the member land at diametrically oppositepoints. 'The'se ears 2 and/then extended vupwardly with their pairs of perforations 3; registering to? 're- 7 ceive, the outturned reduced ends 4 for the semi-circular jaws 5, which latter areuprovided with spaced teeth 6 upon their v opposed edges, or the edges which moveq to} are bent over toward one another uponlthe upperfiface of the base or bodyv member legifi wardlone another when the jaws 5 areitorced I understood. It will be 'understo'od by those familiariwith this art that the 'mainj -or upwardly to clamp upon opposite sides of the legiof a victim as will be later clearly a I central portion of; the tjaws '5: are increased infwidthto lend strength andirigi'di y thmj; .to. [Ajsemicircular or double jaw operating spring 7 1; is secured by. its central, jportlon t the upper face of the base or body member 1, as shown at 8. at a point intermediate the.

upwardly thereon and thereby draw to-,

gether the main portions of the gripping jaws 5, owing to the fact the ends 01 the jaw operating spring 7 are curved u ardly from the point of connection of the jaw operating spring 7 with the base or body member 1 toward the free end of said aw oper ating spring 7. The eyes 9 are of sucha size, however, as to permit the same to pass downwardly over the parallel ears 2 and the outturned ends 4- of the 5 when it is desired to set the trap by swinging the jaws 5 downwardly to a horizontal plane above the base or body member 1, as shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive of the drawings. When the jaws 5 are pressed downwardly into this position, the latching bar 11 may be extended across one of the aws 5 and the tree end of the latching member 1 engaged in the notch 12 provided therefor in the handle 13 of thereleasing pan 1 1 as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings. It will be seen that the outer end 01" the latching member 11 is pivotally mounted in theupper end of the upstanding ear 1.5 carried by the base or body member 1 at a point diametric-ally opposite the connection 8 of the double jaw operating spring 7 with the base or body member 1. The handle 13 of the releasing pan14'isalso'connected at a point below and offset from the notch 12 thereof,

with. an outstanding ear 16 of the base or body member 1, by means of the connecting ring 17, thereby permittin swinging niovement of the releasing pan 1 1 in any direc-- tion when engaged by the pawl of an animal such as a' bear, thus eliminating danger of breaking off the pan 15 or the handle 13.

Due to the fact that the latching bar 11 is pivoted to part 16 above the pivot of pan 1%, the action of spring 7 through the medium of one of the jaws exerted against the same efiectively maintains said latching bar 11 in set with the pan.

It is to be understood that this trap should be positioned over a hole or pocket with the releasing pan is! in the center of the base or bodymember 1. and over the hole or pocket, whereby the foot of the-animal will drop into the hole or pocket as the jaws 5 are forced upwardly and into engagement with the limb of the animal under action or" the spring 7, so as to securely grip the limb of the animal at a point above the joints thereof and securely hold the victim.

The trap is attached to a suitable chain to prevent the animal from carrying of the trap. While any suitable chain may be employed I have shown a special form oi chain. connected by one end with the ear 18, projecting from the edge of the base or body member 1, preferably at a, point adjacentone of the pairs of ears 2 so that the chain may be attached opposite one end of the of the end portions 21 for each link 20 is provided at one side of the link to prevent the link from bein openedbya strain upon the opposite ends thereof. I

In the modified form of the invention shown in Figures 4; to 6 inclusive, the base; or body member 8 is of; the-same construe: tion as in the preferred form and therefore needs no further detail 1 description; All of the parts which. have the samereference numeral applied thereto in the modified form and in the preferred form are of the same construction, and therefore will notice again described in detail. 1

1n the modified form of the invention however, the jaws 5 are operated by a single or areuate j aw operating spring 7, which is secured by one end to the'base or body m'eme ber 1, as shown at 8 and has termed: at'its opposite end, or upwardly curvedf'endi the eye 9 which has sliding engagement on one end of the gripping aws 5 as this single-jaw operating spring 7- will be sufiicient for the lighter and smaller trap. In this smaller and lighter or modified form of trap the handle 13 is also formedof a lighter material bent centrally upon itself and/receiving in its lower corner the upstandingdouble ear 16 projecting from the edge'ot the base orbody member 1. The pivot pin 23' is then passed through the lower corner or the hendle 13 and the double ear 16' engaged therein so that the releasing pan 14 may have a vertical swinging movement on the pivotpin 23 when the pan is pressed downwardly by a victim and a latch member 11 thereby're-= leased to permit upward swinging: movement of the clamping jaws 5 under influence of the jaw operating spring 'i".

' The operation of the trapinay be briefly stated as follows After the trap has been set as shown inFigures 1, 2, 3, 4: 'and 5-,and

properly positioned, it is simplynecessary 1'25 posite sides of the legs or other part of the victim extended between the jaws 5.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, .it'

will be understood that minor changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to Within the" scope of What is claimed Without departing from the spirit of the invention. a I What is claimed is:

strips embracing said base and havingtheir terminals in contact and upstanding, said terminals havingregistering openings therethrough, first and second -coacting jaw members having pivot portions extending through said openings, a spring on saidibase v tain the pan in a'set position. A trap having a base, ears consisting of 1 "to" urge thefirst jaw member tovvard the' second jawxmember, said spring having an openingat 'itsactive' end in-I'Which a'pair oat-fl a said "terminals are disposed, a'pan',.n1eans to p piv'otally mount said panj onsaid base, a 25 latch member. to engage/ said panymea ns to pivotally mountsaidwlatch ineinberon said base above the first mentioned means,-'and jaw whereby the latter will contact therewith and through theurgency of said spring main-i In testimony whereof I aflix my nat 1n presence of two vvltn'esses. U

Witnesses: I PU LI G,

CHAS. EGENHOFER. I 1

saidlatchinember extending across the first f 1 LES 

